Record Store Day - April 20th

You may already know I prefer my music on a 12" vinyl so what would be more fitting then telling you all about Record Store Day coming up on 20th April (you may have spotted the badge for the day on my blog other in <<<< direction for a while). Celebrated internationally, Record Store Day, was first held in 2008 as a day to celebrate music through artists, fans and independent record stores. Sadly we all know in the UK all too many indepdent record stores closed down - I had my own favourite along High Ousegate (the name of the store actually escapes me now) in York, a store I purchased some great indie music and additionally in Newcastle, Reflex was a great way to spend a couple of hours pouring over music - music which were otherwise hard to track down in our same old same old high street stores. 

Moving to metro Detroit and I'm a little spoilt in being able to access independent record stores - there's four in the next three cities from us, just ten minutes drive - all stores with huge new and second hand vinyl collections. While we love a hunt at estate sales for gathering vinyl, record stores are our go to places for purchasing vinyl for gifts to each other (birthdays etc) and for the essentials of maintaining a healthy and working turntable - for needles and cleaners. For me independent record stores keep it real by not only offering affordable music but in their own way, they keep the joy of the vinyl medium alive. Moreover, vinyl sales are keeping independent record stores alive and well;

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Each year for Record Store Day, a tonne of vintage and new artists alike get their music on vinyl released as first, limited or re-releases. This year with Jack White (a Detroit dude and all) is the official ambassador for 2013, The White Stripes are reissuing their album Elephant for it's 10th anniversary LP which has apparently red and black on one side and white on the reverse. But you'll also find vinyl's from Pink Floyd, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold (I totally would have been after this if I was still a massive A7X fan like I once was), The Animals, Placebo, The Cure to Frank Turner. You'll find the full list of artists here. 

Some of the Record Store Day releases - Jimi Hendrex, Pink Floyd, Mumford & Sons, Deftones, David Bowie. Click through on this record image for more information. 

We're aiming to pop around to our local record stores and come away with a couple of vinyls, even if it's only the 7" singles. To celebrate Record Day and vinyl alongside music in general I'll be posting several posts across April looking deeper into our vinyl collection and what to look out for if your thinking about buying vinyl.

Check out their list of participating record stores where you live (remember the day is international - and there's a tonne of stores in the UK participating) although some of the records may not be released in some locations. They also have a great facebook page too.

While this post may seem sponsored it isn't, I'm just that much into vinyl.